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Washington Evening Journal
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Mt. Pleasant boys eliminated at Assumption
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DAVENPORT — The Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team couldn’t get a grind-it-out postseason game to go its way. The No. 5 seed Panthers struggled to find their offense against a sturdy No. 4 seed Assumption squad Monday night, and were handed a 61-42 loss in the first round of the Class 3A Substate 4 playoffs.
Assumption didn’t score more than 20 points in a quarter, but held MP to under 15 in each stanza. The Knights were a step ahead in the blue-collar categories, including an edge on the glass with 13 offensive rebounds.
“We missed rebounds off the free throw line and just missed rebounds in general there in the second half,” Mt. Pleasant coach Eric Rawson said. “Historically, all year, we've been really good on the glass, and for whatever reason we got caught standing around a little bit.”
Isaiah Lange scored the first points of the second half that kicked off Mt. Pleasant’s best stretch of the game. The Panthers trimmed the Knights lead to six in the third quarter, which forced Assumption coach Joe Ewen to call timeout with his side up 35-28.
Assumption found its response out of the break. The Knights closed the third on a 10-3 run, which included a 3-pointer by Marcus Beinborn that gave Assumption a 40-31 lead. The make was Beinborn’s only field goal and one of just two 3-pointers by the Knights.
Where Assumption lacked in outside shooting it made up for by getting to the free throw line. The Knights shot 19 of 25 compared to 6 of 9 for the Panthers. Assumption star guard Henry Stremlow scored nine of his game-high 21 points at the line.
Mt. Pleasant kept Stremlow quiet for most of the first half, but gave up the first seven points of the second quarter to the senior. When Stremlow was quiet, Synceare Simons and Nolan Dittmer got going. The pair finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Lange led the Panthers with 17 points. The sophomore was the lone player double figures on a night where MP struggled to convert from long range despite getting some open looks when Assumption focused on packing the paint defensively. The Knights also recorded 10 steals, and hounded the Panthers in the backcourt early with a full court press.
“It seemed like there in the second quarter we felt maybe rushed and a little bit out of sorts,” Rawson said. “We're a little young, too, at the guard spot. So, you got to learn from that. A year down the road we'll be a little more poised when that happens.”
Grayson Lowery hit one 3-pointer in each half to finish as MP’s second-leading scorer with six points. Carter Gehling and Ryan Helling each scored five. Brody Clark finished with four points and Aiden Humble scored three.
Mt. Pleasant ended the season with a 10-12 record, including a 5-5 mark in Southeast Conference play, good for a third place in the league. The Panthers turned their season around, winning nine of their final 15 games after an injury-riddled 1-6 start.
“Everybody stuck together,” Rawson said. “They hung in there. They fought together. It easily could have went the other way, but it didn't. So that says a lot about the character of this team and and the work ethic and their ability to lean on each other.”
Key returners Helling and Noah Lange came back to the lineup shortly after the start of the new year and helped MP to an 8-4 mark in the middle portion of the season. Lange averaged 11 points and seven rebounds during that stretch, but was bit by the injury bug again after the Panthers Feb. 9 win over Ottumwa and missed the final four games of the season.
Noah Lange and Humble wrapped up their MP basketball careers. Lange was named to the All-SEC second team last season, while Humble earned honorable mention honors and averaged nine points per game in 21 starts this season.
“Got a lot of respect for them,” Rawson said of his senior class. “They helped turn it around, and it was just the work ethic and the ability to lead (that) was contagious and certainly spilled over to everybody.”
The Panthers future remains bright as two of the team’s other top scorers Helling (11.2 ppg in 16 games) and Isaiah Lange (14 ppg) are eligible to return next season. Lowery and Clark are among a group of juniors who can run it back for their senior seasons, while Gehling will join Helling and Lange among the team’s eligible rising juniors.
